A Michigan Passport is required for entry to the park and may be purchased there. Keep in mind during hunting season to be aware of hunters in the area. Hunting is allowed from September 15 untill April 1st each year.
Sistrurus catenatus catenatus
Eastern massasauga
Key Characteristics
The Eastern Massasauga is a small to medium-sized (average 18-30 in/46-76 cm), thick-bodied, gray, gray-brown or brown snake with a distinctive color pattern of dark brown rectangular or saddle-shaped blotches down the back and two or three additional rows of dark spots along the sides of the body. The underside of the snake is either solid black or black with some light mottling. The tail has alternating dark and light bands and a segmented rattle at the end. It also has a triangular-shaped head (i.e., widens at the back of the head and narrows at the neck), vertical slit-shaped pupils, and large, heat-sensing pits or openings between the nostrils and the eyes. Newborn massasaugas range in length from 7-10 in (18-25 cm) and have a single button or rattle at the end of their tails.
Habitat
Eastern Massasaugas have been found in a variety of wetland habitats. Populations in southern Michigan are typically associated with open wetlands, particularly prairie fens, while those in northern Michigan are known from open wetlands and lowland coniferous forests, such as cedar swamps. Some populations of Eastern Massasaugas also utilize open uplands and/or forest openings for foraging, basking, gestation and parturition (i.e., giving birth to young). Massasaugas usually hibernate below the frost line in crayfish or small mammal burrows, tree root networks or rock crevices in or along the edge of wetlands or in upland areas with presumably high water tables. Massasauga habitats generally appear to be characterized by the following: (1) open, sunny areas intermixed with shaded areas, presumably for thermoregulation; (2) presence of the water table near the surface for hibernation; and (3) variable elevations between adjoining lowland and upland habitats.
Specific Habitat Needs
Downed woody debris needed in Emergent marsh, Northern wet meadow, Southern wet meadow, Intermittent wetland, Coastal plain marsh, Wet prairie, Wet-mesic sand prairie, Prairie fen, Northern fen, Bog, Poor conifer swamp, Rich conifer swamp, Northern hardwood swamp, Southern hardwood swamp, Floodplain forest, Northern shrub thicket, Southern shrub-carr, Mesic southern forest, Dry-mesic southern forest, Dry southern forest, Mesic northern forest, Dry-mesic northern forest, Dry northern forest, Oak barrens, Oak-pine barrens, Pine barrens, Mesic prairie, Dry-mesic prairie, Dry sand prairie Snag/cavity needed in Rich tamarack swamp, Hardwood-conifer swamp, Mesic sand prairie